Description

The Ruins of Ancient Guk is a vast array of tunnels that connect between
the ruins themselves and the upper tunnelways that eventually lead to
the Innothule Swamp. It is also the battleground between the living frogloks,
led by the Froglok King, and the undead who have taken over most of the
deepest ruins, led by their Ghoul Lord.

Dangers

This dungeon is generally regarded as one of the two most deadly dungeons
on the continent of Antonica. It is divided up into two general areas,
the "Live" side and the "Dead" side, named for the
life/unlife status of the majority of the frogloks within. There are general
dangers for the dungeon, as well as for each side, that I will mention
before going into specific dangers.

Lower Guk has as its main defense the confusing nature of how it is set
up, as well as lack of ready access to the deeper areas of the dungeon.
It is quite easy to get lost if you don't know where you're going in these
tunnels, and this is especially noticeable in the maze area on Live side.
Also, getting to a particular point in the dungeon from which to pull
is not an easy task for most, because they are deep in and past many aggressive
creatures. The use of invisibility is helpful, but only with large cautions
to it. First of all, the distinction between Live and Dead side is not
absolute. On Dead side there are many "live" creatures that
can readily see through Invis v Undead, most noticably the vampire bats.
On Live side, it is possible to encounter undead creatures because of
infrequent trains to the exit, although this is much less likely. Also,
there are occasionally creatures that can see through invisibility as
you travel through, so be careful as you go. Now onto each individual
side.

Live side is a typical dungeon that you are likely used to, in the vein
of the Solusek dungeons. The only specific danger to this side is that
hunting here can seriously hurt your froglok faction, which for many is
important in order to safely travel Upper Guk as well as most of Live
side. If you are unfortunate enough to lose faction when you didn't want
to, killing undead frogloks will increase your faction with the living
ones. Dead side's only real danger is the number of undead monsters. This
is a big bonus for those classes with special skills in this area, but
for the others brings with it the fun that fighting the undead always
brings. Most of Dead side is also very far away from any exits, so you
had better have an evacuator in case of trouble.

There are few specific dangers to note in Lower Guk. The few that exist
are that there are quite a number of shaman and wizard frogloks in this
dungeon, which can be very problematic because of the DoT and DD spells.
Most groups tend to remove them from battle sooner rather than later.
The Huge Water Elemental is important to note on Live side, because even
if frogloks are your friends, he will attack you and the nearby frogloks
will assist him. He can see through invisibility.

Benefits

There must be something that keeps bringing people to Lower Guk, because
it traditionally has been one of the most packed dungeons around, and
you were able, in the past, to walk nearly freely as the frogloks were
dead within seconds of appearing in their homes. Things have gotten a
little bit less crowded in there, but the draw is the same: experience
and loot for high-level characters.

The items in this zone are probably the most sought after items in the
game for this level range. Skimming through the listing reveals mainstays
of high-priced auctions, like Short Sword of Ykesha, FBSS, Runed Falchions,
to name a few. Most people come here to hunt with the dream of ancient
froglok treasures to carry them into the swamps.

This is also a great area for experience for higher level characters.
It is also something of a training ground for fighting in the higher level
dungeons on Kunark, as the skills that you develop here for advanced grouping
are absolutely essential when you move to the even more dangerous dungeons
of that once-lost continent.

Travelling To and From
Lower Guk

There are several entrances to Lower Guk from Upper Guk. Specifically,
there are three entrances that come out in relative proximity in Dead
side from Upper Guk. Two of these require a short swim through the rivers,
and the dry one is closest to the front entrance of Guk. The one entrance
to Live side is the deepest into Upper Guk, and isn't as commonly used.

Other than using the entrances from Upper Guk to leave, there is one
additional exit. From the King's Room on Live side there is a zone exit
in the back that will take you to Upper Guk right beside the entrance
to the swamp. It isn't an exit for casual use, as it leads you directly
past the toughest monster in Lower Guk, but it's there if you need it.